Vodafone Germany to reportedly stop 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 sales, 16GB model to live on

Purportedly leaked photos of Vodafone Germany's ERP system reveals the telecom will discontinue sales of 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 models, but will carry over the 16GB version as a possible intermediate device positioned between the rumored iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S.

Source: Flo's Weblog

The images, first posted to the Web by German site Flo's Weblog (viaMacRumors), appear to be two snapshots of Vodafone's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the first showing iPhone stock status and a second explaining the discontinuation of certain models.

In the image above, all current models of Apple's iPhone 5, as well as the legacy 3GS, are listed next to their respective availability. While both the black and white versions of Apple's 16GB iPhone 5 remain "available for shipping," the 32GB and 64GB models are shown as "not available." The white 32GB iPhone 5 is "available," though the status is thought to reflect units on hand.

The second image, seen above, is a shot of an email that reportedly went out to Vodafone shops in Germany on Thursday. The message reads, in part:

Here again the news of the day:

Discontinued Hardware
The following items are no longer available and [unreadable?] contract acquisition disabled:

iPhone 5 32GB Black

iPhone 5 32GB White

iPhone 5 64GB Black

iPhone 5 64GB White

iPhone 4S 16GB Black

iPhone 4S 16GB White

Wares on site at the point-of-sale can of course continue to be sold.
It is not clear whether Apple itself is discontinuing the models, or if Vodafone has simply decided not to carry them. If Apple were to discontinue the iPhone 5 and 4S models, it would be left with a rumored lower-cost handset in the iPhone 5C, a 16GB iPhone 5, and the expected flagship iPhone 5S.

Analysts are split on what Apple plans to do with its legacy iPhone lineup. In August, KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple would position the iPhone 5C as a mid-tier model, replacing the entire iPhone 5 line and making the iPhone 4S the entry level offering. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, however, believes the 5C will take over for the 4S at the bottom, leaving the current iPhone 5 as an intermediate model.

Apple's 2013 handset lineup should soon be revealed, as the company this week announced a Sept. 10 media event that is widely expected to focus on the iPhone.

Hm, this is in line with T-Mobile Germany rumors. Just strange that they would not list the 8 GB iPhone 4 as discontinued then.

Of course it would make sense to discontinue all 4/4S models, as this would eliminate the old aspect ratio and dock connector at once. (Force developers to finally update their 3:2 iPhone apps and spur the availability of Lightning compatible accessories.)

I agree with most of his but I think the 5C will be 16GB. 8GB is not enough these days.

The point of an 8GB model is to push upsale to more expensive 16GB models. The 5C is only the gateway drug to iOS. Apple will want people to eventually upgrade to pricier handsets with more storage in the future.

Apple needs to upgrade to a 32/64/128 GB standard. 16 is way too small now and it shouldn't cost 100$ to upgrade to the next level! I can get a 16GB flash drive for 20$ and 32GB for 30$. Flash prices are way down and hopefully Apple uses that to lower the prices for its customers

The point of an 8GB model is to push upsale to more expensive 16GB models. The 5C is only the gateway drug to iOS. Apple will want people to eventually upgrade to pricier handsets with more storage in the future.

How about 16 pushing people to 32? I have a 32GB iPhone and I'm constantly running out of space. Plus iPods start at 16GB so why would the iPhone have less space than the iPod?

I agree with most of his but I think the 5C will be 16GB. 8GB is not enough these days.

I am not so sure. The "C" targets several markets where people do not buy a lot of content and apps, and even quite a few are not even on 3G. Getting to the lowest possible entry price makes a lot of sense (and it does not keep them from offering higher capacity models). And while I do not see Apple doubling storage space for $20 or $30, I have to agree with Timbit that they have to do "something" at some point. Either double the entry-level storage at the same price (as they did with the MBAs), or make these price gaps a bit smaller. While I do love my 64 GB iPad Mini with 4G, $866 (current price in Germany) is in painful territory (and I absolutely acknowledge that I am contradicting myself, because I paid that much).

Duh to keep it around, put a -$100 price tag and it sales, a 5C is going to be apple grafting to balance to make profit (which at there sake rate 1¢ gives them a profit on something like this for millions of dollars

(1) This might mark the first time that Munster is right and Kuo is wrong. We will know soon.

(2) I'm not sure that Apple want to neuter the phone they are counting on to win over a very tech savvy China with only 8gb of memory. If so, I would expect only a $50 upcharge to the 16gb model. The difference between 8gb and 16gb probably only costs Apple $2 or less per phone. Also, I would think they want to encourage, not discourage, lots of downloading from iTunes and the App Store.

(1) This might mark the first time that Munster is right and Kuo is wrong. We will know soon.

(2) I'm not sure that Apple want to neuter the phone they are counting on to win over a very tech savvy China with only 8gb of memory. If so, I would expect only a $50 upcharge to the 16gb model. The difference between 8gb and 16gb probably only costs Apple $2 or less per phone. Also, I would think they want to encourage, not discourage, lots of downloading from iTunes and the App Store.

Apple could get the same affect by encouraging the purchase of additional iCloud storage.

I'm able to manage 25GB of apps songs and videos on a 16GB device today.

Tech savvy Chinese will have no problem navigating iCloud. I'm pretty sure they can use it for storage even without iTunes Match?

Regardless this is a $300 smartphone we're taking about. There are bound to be trade offs.

Apple could get the same affect by encouraging the purchase of additional iCloud storage.

I'm able to manage 25GB of apps songs and videos on a 16GB device today.

Tech savvy Chinese will have no problem navigating iCloud. I'm pretty sure they can use it for storage even without iTunes Match?

Regardless this is a $300 smartphone we're taking about. There are bound to be trade offs.

iCloud is no solution when you don't have 3G (at least), it is no solution when your tariff is capped at 200 MB, and when (as quite common in Asia) corporate WLANs won't allow your personal devices on it (unless you are important). My current main customer is an Indian company with 11k+ seats. Only C-level admins get 3G, other managers have to do with 2.5G/EDGE. Departments with over 200 people share a 4 Mbit/s line (for desktops and mobiles) and almost nobody has a private 3G contract (or only one with minimum data caps starting at something like 50 MB). Using iCloud as a selling point for anything is a lost cause here. And judging by my last visits to Shanghai and Beijing, I would not rely on a cloud based approach there either, as the networks are overloaded virtually all of the time.

I am also not sure Apple will meet a $300 price tag, even $399 would astonish me.

iCloud is no solution when you don't have 3G (at least), it is no solution when your tariff is capped at 200 MB, and when (as quite common in Asia) corporate WLANs won't allow your personal devices on it (unless you are important).

Absolutely. iCloud is no solution in countries like India or China, it's not even a solution here in Germany. The majority of tariffs are capped at 1GB/month for 3G, I personally run a prepaid contract with 200MB/month out of cost/usage reasons. That won't get me far. Plus, as developed a country as Germany is, there are still areas where there is no 3G available. I like iCloud for document synchronisation across devices but it doesn't solve the storage problem for most people in the world.

I also agree the upgrade prices for storage on the iPhone are way too high. Going from 16GB to 32GB at Apple costs €110 (~$144), upping the price for the 32GB model to €789 (~$1035) off-contract - that's how most people buy their phones here. I'm no fan of buying cheapass devices and am certainly willing to pay a premium for a high quality product, but $1035 is a steep price to pay upfront. A 5C 32GB for around €500 ($656) would be fabulous honestly. I'd definitely pick one up, my iP4 is getting a little rusty.

The point of an 8GB model is to push upsale to more expensive 16GB models. The 5C is only the gateway drug to iOS. Apple will want people to eventually upgrade to pricier handsets with more storage in the future.

How about 16 pushing people to 32? I have a 32GB iPhone and I'm constantly running out of space. Plus iPods start at 16GB so why would the iPhone have less space than the iPod?

I can only imagine how much space we will need if the 5S can do 4K video. I'm thinking 16GB on the bottom too.

I'm probably going with a 128GB model if one is offered. My biggest problem is video. It chews through the space and I don't sync them off that frequently. Not sure why in the hell I still have to sync videos off with iPhoto. I understand why it doesn't go through iCloud, but it should do it with iTunes via Wifi.

Until they introduce a 128gb model, I still have a need to carry my iPod classic. But until they start lowering prices on flash (meaning Apple, not In general). I will be purchasing lower capacity models. So I'm stuck wi two devices. The iPhone is just too expensive for my tastes (off contract). And I need an off contract phone to use in china. Currently I have two iPhones for that, but carrying those both with me and a my classic, and my MBP and my iPad is getting a little crazy for travel every other month. What would solve my problem? A 5"-6" wifi/LTE iPhone with 128gb of storage. Then I could drop the 2nd phone, the classic and potentially my iPad and go from traveling with 5 devices to 2.

The 5 will take over - just doesn't make sense to keep the 4S around, for multiple reasons.

Agreed. However, if the iPhone 5C is just the iPhone 5 with a cheaper case and other minor tweaks, really, what's the point of even keeping the 5 around. To me it just creates more options and is a much more confusing line-up for the iPhone. Personally I'd rather se just the two new models and that be it. The 3-tier system worked in the past because they were all significantly different. We will have to wait and see ow different the ip5c will be to the 5 but just based on rumors, what's the point?

Let look at that. iPhone 4 at the baseline. The 4S had Siri, was twice as fast, had a much better camera. Then the iPhone 5 was 2x faster than the 4S, much lighter weight, much better quality screen and bigger screen, much better camera with better camera features. So if you see the differences and apply this same comparison with these rumored devices, you just don't see the clear gaps in features from one to the other.Edited by antkm1 - 9/6/13 at 2:30am

So will the 5C be lower specced than in the 5 if it stays around? If not its hard to see how the 5 sells. If so then it has to be 8G

Yeah I think the 5C will start at 8GB but likely have more storage options.

If the 5 is discontinued I could see Apple having 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB 5C models ranging from $350-$550.

Quote:

Originally Posted by antkm1

Agreed. However, if the iPhone 5C is just the iPhone 5 with a cheaper case and other minor tweaks, really, what's the point of even keeping the 5 around. To me it just creates more options and is a much more confusing line-up for the iPhone. Personally I'd rather se just the two new models and that be it. The 3-tier system worked in the past because they were all significantly different. We will have to wait and see ow different the ip5c will be to the 5 but just based on rumors, what's the point?

Let look at that. iPhone 4 at the baseline. The 4S had Siri, was twice as fast, had a much better camera. Then the iPhone 5 was 2x faster than the 4S, much lighter weight, much better quality screen and bigger screen, much better camera with better camera features. So if you see the differences and apply this same comparison with these rumored devices, you just don't see the clear gaps in features from one to the other.

You make great points.

Since it seems Apple has not handicapped the 5C (which is a good thing) there's less differentiation other than materials used.

A 2 tier product structure would make sense and Apple can use various storage options to bridge all the pricing gaps from $350-$850.

I think first they need to sort out the naming. iPhone 5c, 5s, 5, 4s, 4. Is an s better than a c? Is a 4s better than a 5c? Its becoming the worst naming convention out there and Apple on everything else have the best.

They should just kill off all old phone and have an iPhone mini, iPhone and iPhone Pro. Simple to understand. No wired letters and get some clear differences in the ranges rather than the budget phone just being an old model.

I think first they need to sort out the naming. iPhone 5c, 5s, 5, 4s, 4. Is an s better than a c? Is a 4s better than a 5c? Its becoming the worst naming convention out there and Apple on everything else have the best.

They should just kill off all old phone and have an iPhone mini, iPhone and iPhone Pro. Simple to understand. No wired letters and get some clear differences in the ranges rather than the budget phone just being an old model.

That might be a problem if they keep the 4 or 4s around, but I don't think they will. The number 4 obviously just signifies an older generation.

Not saying it's the best naming convention ever, but I also don't think it's the worst. Calling the 5c the iPhone Mini would be confusing because "mini" signifies a smaller device which everyone assumes will not be the case.

The "Pro" designation would not be as bad but it tends to signify that it is primarily for business use. I don't think that's the image Apple wants to project for the iPhone because so much of the high-end smartphone market is made up of people who primarily use them for personal use.

Of course, all of these memory constraint issues could be addressed if Apple sold one of each type phone, and gave them the ability to support microSIM technology, so we could add as much memory as we need. I bought a 32GB iPhone 4S last year, hoping that it would meet my needs. But if I put my entire music collection on it it leaves only 2-3 GB for apps.

Apple suggests using iTunes Match and then streaming my music to my phone, and only downloading what I want to keep local. But then I'll end up hitting the limits of my data plan (3GB/mo).